International
Stop the Israel-Hamas war before it’s too late, Iran warns
Stop the Israel-Hamas war before it’s too late, Iran warns
Iran on Saturday warned Israel to immediately halt its “war crimes” against Gaza or it could face “a huge earthquake” of resistance.
More than 320 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours, including many women and children in Israeli air raids on convoys fleeing Gaza City, according to health officials.
The rising death toll comes as Israel continues bombing Gaza a day after telling 1.1million residents to head south ahead of a looming ground offensive following Hamas’s attack inside Israel last week.
At least 2,215 Palestinians have been killed and 8,714 wounded in Israeli air attacks on Gaza. The number of people killed in Israel has reached 1,300, with more than 3,400 wounded. The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli airstrikes had killed 724 children by yesterday, of the over 2,000 Palestinians killed in the past week.
In the occupied West Bank, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the past week has topped 50. More than 1,000 have been wounded and hundreds arrested.
The Israeli military said it was planning an attack by land, air and sea, according to a statement, but gave no timing or specifics.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that Israel has warned 1.1m Palestinians living in northern Gaza to evacuate to south; and thousands have been fleeing by vehicles or on foot.
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The United Nations has said it is “impossible” for 1.1m Palestinians, about half of the 2.3million people in Gaza to evacuate because there is no place to go.
Meanwhile, BBC Verify has confirmed that women and children were killed when a strike hit their vehicles as they headed away from northern Gaza
This is as thousands of Palestinians sought refuge yesterday after Israel warned them to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground offensive against Hamas, one week after the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.
The alarm has grown over the fate of Palestinian civilians in blockaded and besieged Gaza – one of the world’s most densely populated areas – if it becomes the scene of intense urban combat and house-to-house fighting.
“The situation in Gaza has reached a dangerous new low,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, adding, “Even wars have rules,” he added, stressing that “civilians must be protected and also never used as shields.”
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Israel, which has vowed to destroy Hamas, has massed ground forces and tanks around Gaza, dropped leaflets in the north of the enclave telling civilians to flee and staged “localised” raids.
The raids have also sought to locate “missing persons” inside Gaza, the military said, as Hamas has been holding some 150 hostages, whose families have been protesting inside Israel for the release of their relatives.
Al Quds Hospital defies Israeli evacuation order
As thousands flee northern Gaza towards the south, Al Quds Hospital, one of the overstretched health facilities operated by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), refused to follow the orders of the Israeli government that it should evacuate by 4pm local time yesterday.
In a statement posted on the organisation’s X 9, formerly Twitter) handle, the PRCS – equivalent to the Red Cross in many countries – said it would continue with its mandate to attend to the sick and the wounded.
“PRCS-Al Quds Hospital is offering live-saving services to a large number of Palestinian patients and the wounded, including critical cases in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and children in incubators, in addition to hundreds of civilians who took refuge at the hospital.
“Accordingly, PRCR cannot evacuate the hospital, and by its mandate is bound to continue the provision of services to the sick and wounded,” the statement noted in part.
North Gaza resident: ‘We prefer to die in dignity’
Meanwhile, it remains unclear how many Palestinians have stayed in northern Gaza after Israel ordered all 1.1million there to leave immediately.
“What we know is that hundreds of thousands of people have fled. And one million people have been displaced in total in one week,” said Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
A Gaza resident, Rami Swailem said he and at least five families in his building decided to stay put in his apartment near Gaza City. “We are rooted in our lands. We prefer to die in dignity and face our destiny.”
International
US Black airman fatally shot by security officer in wrong apartment
US Black airman fatally shot by security officer in wrong apartment
An attorney for the family of a Black airman fatally shot by a Florida deputy in his home last week is calling for the release of law enforcement bodycam footage, saying a witness believes the deputy was at the wrong apartment.
The 23-year-old victim has been identified by his family as Roger Fortson – an active-duty senior airman in United States, according to family attorney Ben Crump.
“The circumstances surrounding Roger’s death raise serious questions that demand immediate answers from authorities, especially considering the alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment,” Crump said, citing the account of an unidentified person who was on FaceTime with Fortson at the time of the shooting.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said in a statement deputies responded last Friday to an apartment after receiving a call for “a disturbance in progress.”
“Hearing sounds of a disturbance, (a deputy) reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun and after the deputy had identified himself as law enforcement,” the sheriff said.
“The deputy shot the man, who later succumbed to his injuries,” said the sheriff.
“I immediately placed the deputy on administrative leave and have asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct the investigation that is required in such incidents,” the sheriff’s statement said.
The deputy involved in the shooting has not been identified by officials.
Crump – who’s expected to hold a news conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on Thursday – called Fortson “a stellar member of the Air Force and loved by his community.”
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“We are calling for transparency in the investigation into Roger’s death and the IMMEDIATE release of bodycam video to the family,” Crump said Wednesday in a post on X.
Fortson heard two separate knocks at the door and – the witness said – when no one could be seen through the peephole, Fortson retrieved his gun, which was legally owned, according to Crump.
The deputy then allegedly burst into the apartment and shot Fortson.
The witness said law enforcement responded to the wrong apartment, and there was no disturbance there at the time, Crump said in a news release. According to Crump, the witness said Fortson was alone at the time.
Her relationship to Fortson was not disclosed.
Deputies communicated with dispatch that Fortson had been shot six times with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest with one exit wound, according to police dispatch calls, obtained by CNN affiliate WEAR.
Officers can be heard saying that there was a “disturbance … physical in progress,” in the dispatch calls, WEAR reported.
“Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron. He entered active duty on Nov. 19, 2019,” said a statement from the Air Force, which noted the shooting occurred at Fortson’s off-base residence.
“The 1st Special Operations Wing’s priorities are providing casualty affairs service to the family, supporting the squadron during this tragic time, and ensuring resources are available for all who are impacted,” said the Hurlburt Field statement.
While details about the shooting remain murky, the allegation the Okaloosa deputy responded to the wrong apartment echoes other shootings in recent years, in which a Black man or woman was killed by law enforcement in their home.
In 2019, a former Dallas police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison after fatally shooting Botham Jean in his apartment the year prior. The officer – off duty but still in uniform – lived on the floor below Jean’s and said she approached what she believed to be her own apartment when she saw Jean inside.
Atatiana Jefferson was killed that same year when a Fort Worth officer, responding to what police believed to be a burglary, shot her through her bedroom window.
The officer testified at trial that Jefferson pointed a gun at him, but prosecutors argued there was no evidence he saw the gun before opening fire. The former Fort Worth officer was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison in 2022.
US Black airman fatally shot by security officer in wrong apartment
(CNN)
International
Russia urges Israel to comply with international humanitarian law in Rafah
Russia urges Israel to comply with international humanitarian law in Rafah
Russia has urged Israel to comply with international humanitarian law as its military operation in the Gazan city of Rafah has become an additional destabilising factor in the situation in the Middle East.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova disclosed this on Wednesday while answering reporters’ questions.
On Monday, Israel started a military operation in the eastern parts of Rafah and took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
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Hamas said it had agreed to the provisions of the ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar mediators, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the truce deal unacceptable.
Over a million people are believed to be sheltering in the city.
“An additional destabilising factor, including for the entire region, was the start of Israel’s ground military operation in Rafah in southern Gaza. About 1.5 million Palestinian civilians are concentrated there.
“In this regard, we demand strict compliance with the provisions of international humanitarian law,” Mr Zakharova told reporters.
Russia urges Israel to comply with international humanitarian law in Rafah
International
African Union condemns Israeli incursion into Rafah, calls for international intervention
African Union condemns Israeli incursion into Rafah, calls for international intervention
The African Union (AU) has denounced the Israeli military’s recent actions in southern Gaza’s Rafah and urged the international community to intervene to halt the escalation of the conflict.
In a statement, AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat strongly condemned the extension of the war to the Rafah crossing, a crucial corridor for humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian territory.
Faki expressed extreme concern about the ongoing conflict in Gaza, emphasizing the significant loss of life and destruction of infrastructure. He called on the entire international community to coordinate efforts to stop the deadly escalation.
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The Israeli incursion into Rafah occurred as negotiators and mediators convened in Cairo to seek a ceasefire in the seven-month conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Israel announced the reopening of the Kerem Shalom border crossing for humanitarian aid to Gaza, four days after its closure in response to a rocket attack that killed four soldiers. Additionally, the Erez border crossing between Israel and northern Gaza was opened for aid deliveries for the first time since the conflict began.
Both the United Nations and the United States, Israel’s staunch ally, condemned the closure of the crossings, which are vital for civilians facing severe humanitarian crises, including famine.
African Union condemns Israeli incursion into Rafah, calls for international intervention
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